Attacks on journalists at Nkandla 'breach of constitution' - SANEF
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) has slammed the abuse suffered by journalists at Nkandla this weekend.
Thousands of supporters of former president Jacob Zuma gathered outside his Nkandla home in a show of solidarity with the former head of state.
Zuma faces 15 months in jail for violating a Constitutional Court order.
In one incident, SABC journalist Samkele Maseko was physically manhandled by one supporter and his live broadcast interrupted.
In a statement, SANEF said journalists have been under attack since Friday while waiting for law enforcement to execute the Constitutional Court ruling.
READ: Police beef up security forces in Nkandla after mass gatherings
“SANEF is concerned that these kinds of attacks are a direct breach of the South African constitution that protects media freedom and access to information and by extension the right for journalists to do their work.
“The impunity in which the Zuma supporters have acted says a lot about the climate that has been enabled for such attacks to happen without consequence.
"We urge Zuma, and senior leaders supporting him, to curtail and condemn such attacks by calling on his family and supporters to cease and desist from such actions.”
